DETROIT – After Danielle Perkins lost her fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship, she was contacted by the woman who beat her – Claressa Shields – first with kind words and later with an opportunity.
“Claressa reached out and she said, ‘You know, that was a good fight,’” Perkins said in an interview with BoxingScene. “You really can’t hear anyone when you lose. So I was like, ‘Oh, thank you.’ But she meant it. It was genuine, and that's one thing I can say about Claressa, that she’s a genuine person.”
Shields has gone from defeating Perkins to signing her to T-Rex Promotions. A little more than a year after Shields won via unanimous decision, Perkins is returning against Che Kenneally. Their fight is on the undercard of Shields’ rematch against Franchon Crews-Dezurn this Sunday at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
Perkins, 5-1 (2 KOs), a 43-year-old from Houston, isn't in an inconsequential fight either. She is challenging Kenneally for the WBA light heavyweight title. That’s a good bounce-back, given that sometimes a losing fighter can be cast aside while others get opportunities.
“I thought I had a good showing,” Perkins said of her fight with Shields. “For it to be my first 10-rounder, being undisputed against Claressa Shields in Flint [Michigan, Shields’ hometown], I don't think a lot of people could fight under that immense amount of pressure. I definitely was like, ‘Oh, I don’t know what’s going to happen after this. Who do you fight after Claressa Shields?”
Perkins weighed in between 195 and 198lbs for her first three pro fights, in 2020 and 2021. After a three-year layoff, she has been between 175 and 178 in her three most recent outings.
Women’s boxing has some overlap in how the sanctioning bodies define the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. The WBA didn’t even have a heavyweight division until Shields fought Perkins. The WBC doesn’t have a light heavyweight division; anyone above 168lbs is considered a heavyweight.
And given how few women there are in the heaviest weight classes, Shields’ own heavyweight title fights have seen two of her three opponents come in within what would otherwise be the light heavyweight limit of 175lbs. The third was Perkins, who was 177.25lbs.
Given that her promoter is the undisputed heavyweight champion, Perkins plans to campaign at light heavyweight and wants to unify the remaining titles.
“Claressa’s not going to fight me,” Perkins said, delivering her next line with a smile and a laugh: “Yeah, she told me, ‘Get out of my face.’”
If Perkins beats Kenneally, there is a potential bout to be made with Sarah Scheurich, 7-0 (4 KOs), a 32-year-old from Germany who defeated Lani Daniels for the IBF belt in December.
“This weight class is small,” Perkins said. “It doesn’t have an extended talent bench.”
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
